Pablo Venegas, the resident Rainforest Partnership herpetologist held talks throughout the week at the New York Hall of Science each day during Climate Week. Pablo spoke to audiences of all ages to learn more about the importance of frogs in our ecosystems and what it is like to lead an expedition in search of unknown, endemic, and endangered species.
From Pablo:
I had never been to New York in my life and when Niyanta told me, about 3 months before, that I would be going to talk about my field work, it was a pleasant surprise. Niyanta told me that we would be exhibiting at the New York Hall of Science, so I started researching on the Internet what this place was like. I saw that it was a science museum with modern facilities that looked incredible. I would have a whole week to talk to people about the amphibians and reptiles of Peru and the threats facing the survival of these animals, and also what it meant to go to remote places in search of unique species. Once at the New York Hall of Science, I was a little worried about my English that I still haven’t mastered and which sometimes does not allow me to clearly transmit my message, something that I stopped worrying about from the first day since the Latin community in New York is huge and a large percentage of the people who visit the museum are from Latin America. Without going too far, my first talk was to a family from Huancayo, Peru, who had been living in New York for 20 years.
They were delighted and, as often happens, were surprised that there was a countryman who dedicated himself to studying frogs, lizards and snakes in the Andes and jungles of Peru. As the week progressed, attendance at the museum slowly increased, reaching its maximum on Friday and Saturday, when I would talk to everyone from a woman who brought her children to the museum to entire families and even an entire classroom of Latino children. People were amazed about the expeditions we do and all the work that is involved, from planning to returning home with the data and samples taken safely.
Another topic that amazed people was how we could find frogs and lizards so camouflaged in lush forests. Which is definitely one of the greatest challenges when in the field. One of the greatest satisfactions I have had from having been able to expose the species to the people of New York is that these people easily understood the importance of the work we do in the field investigating these wonderful creatures, and that in order to protect something, the first thing we have to do is to know that something. Having verified this last point, I was able to return home knowing that all the effort made to go to New York had been worth it, returning happy and with hope for the future. I was able to verify that naturalists and zoologists still have a place in the changing and chaotic society in which we live.
The funniest moment was when talking about the species we had discovered and named, on a couple of occasions, people recognized Enyalioides dickinsoni from the news they had heard about this species on rock radio and the web. It was definitely not just any lizard, but a lizard named after Bruce Dickinson, the vocalist of Iron Maiden. The people who recognized this species, obviously fans of Heavy Metal, could not believe they were in front of the author of such a tribute to the tremendous English rock idol, and one of them even took photos with me to show his son, who was another Iron Maiden fan, that he had met the mad scientist who discovered the Iron Maiden lizard.
We encourage you to reach out to our team if you want to learn more. Pablo’s work is very cool, but it is also extremely important work that he does to better understand biodiversity and its relationship to the health of tropical rainforests.
Watch now for a full recap of our 2024 Climate Week activities.
